Funny stuff

Eli cracks us up alot lately. He's got quite a quick sense of humor. Of course, I forget things soon after he says them so I should start writing them down.

Just yesterday, he was making a spoof commercial for Charlotte's Squiggle Pen when he didn't know we were listening. The squiggle pen is battery operated and it vibrates so that it's all wobbly when you write with it. He said, "The Squiggle Pen. For people who don't know how to scribble."

Ha!

Charlotte's going through a really rough period right now. I've heard other people say that their little girlies had rough patches in the middle of their 4th year so it sounds like Charlie is right on track. She's got a bit of an attitude and has been through some real stomping, door slamming fits. It's a bit easier knowing that it's normal but we're trying to let her know it's not acceptable to treat us this way. Along with the attitude is some sensitivity. She seems to get her feelings hurt very easily. Just yesterday, she told me that when I tell her "Just a minute," she feels like I don't love her. Ouch....give me a minute while I pull this knife from my heart.

Lucy's working voraciously on the sign language. When she wants something, she runs through all the signs she knows until she gets the right one. More? Eat? Up? Down? Sleep? Cup? Cup! Yes, cup!

Changes

Charlotte has been very different lately. She's always been a bit of a tom-boy. She always pretended she was a boy character and didn't care much for dresses or girly things. Lately, though, she's been acting very different. She loves to dress herself in dresses and skirts, wants to wear makeup, and is into everything frilly. Today I found her playing school with her stuffed animals. It's just always so enjoyable to watch her grow. Eli was always so mature for his age that he never really seemed to be a little boy. In fact, the times when he acted up, getting loud and rambunctious, were a nice change of pace. Charlotte has always been such a caricature of a little girl, always playing pretend and dress up, acting silly all the time, and now playing school.



Yesterday, she was a "hair do-er" and gave us all mah-sausages (massages). Here she is "wearing" my hair.




Lucy is beginning to get very frustrated with her inability to communicate to us. She does have a few words, include calling Charlotte "Sha-zhit." Her words include (Becca, this is for you) : Mama, Dada, up, hi, bye, baby, muna (nursing), uh-oh, uh-huh and nuh-uh (yes and no), ice, water, and Sha-zhit. Still, she gets by with pointing her finger and crying. We're beginning to teach her some sign language because she seems to enjoy it. She understands them when we do them and likes when I teach her how to do them herself but she only does "more" and "down" on her own.



Eli lost another basketball game but is becoming more sure of himself. He attempted to make a basket this time and while he didn't score, he did hit the rim. This was a big deal for him because he tends to hang back and get out of the way of the ball.

Dancing 'round the room

You're informally invited to a dancing party in our living room. Take your place on either the couch or the table and shake your booty.

Eli's basketball team won their first game! It was such a blast to watch because they're really learning how to work together as a team. And Eli's individual skills have improved as well. (How do you like my mad photoshopping skilz?)

Lucy loves it

Let's give a video a try. Here's Lucy with her favorite gift on Christmas morning. Ignore the very merry mess that is Christmas. I swear those garbage bags are filled with wrapping paper and not actual, you know, garbage.

That's Charlotte's doll house in the background on the table. Mike slaved for weeks over that only to have Charlotte's reaction, upon unwrapping it, be, "What...? It's a dollhouse.....So?" Of course now she loves it.

In other news, Lucy used the potty two days ago. She was running around bare, as always, and was quietly playing in the other room. Lo and behold, she had come upon her little potty and decided to use it. She's only 17 months so that was pretty exciting.

Eli's had two basketball games so far. They were trounced both times. He's taking it in stride. As much as the kid hates to lose a board game, he could care less about the scores at his athletic events.

This evening Charlotte said to me, "Mama, sometimes when I sing I cry because it's so beautiful." As silly as it sounds, it makes me sad to think that someday she'll hear that maybe she's not as good as she thinks and that might break her heart. And mine.

So beautiful

Thanks to Uncle D and Aunt Dawn, Charlotte and I made jewelry today from a bead set she got for Christmas. She made me a necklace and I made her a bracelet. Aren't they beautiful?

Speaking of beautiful, here are some shots of the kiddos sleeping last night. How come they look so angelic while they're sleeping? Especially that little one. Because we all know she's definitely NOT an angel in the day time. She's full of it!

In other news, Elijah had his first basketball game on Thursday night. They lost...by alot. This morning, Charlotte started ice skating lessons. Mike brought her and said she had a blast. She had her own "coach" named Matt and she was very excited that her team won the game they played.

No basketball pictures because Mike wasn't there and I had to imprison Lucy on my lap but here's Charlotte skating.

Master Yogi and Busy Bee

We bought Wii Fit and we're all having so much fun with it. It's a board that hooks up to the Wii and we can exercise, do yoga, and play games with it. It keeps track of each of us and how we progress on each exercise/game. Charlotte's even becoming quite the wiz at yoga.

Eli's been incredibly busy lately. He's joined alot of extracurricular activities. He's currently in Readers Club, Writers Club, band, chorus, the Gifted and Talented Program, and the basketball team as well as studying for the upcoming spelling bee. He actually had to stop going to Homework Club because his schedule was too complicated.

When he was still little, I always swore my kids would not be overscheduled. I promised I would never be one of those parents who force their children into too many enriching activities. I never thought about what we would do when HE would be overscheduling himself. That's a much more challenging situation. I hate the idea of denying him from doing anything that might interest him as long as it's monetarily feasible

. Who knows? Maybe one of the things he tries out ends up being his niche and if we had said no, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to discover it. Also, he's not usually big on joining groups so I want to encourage him when he shows an interest.

At the same time, we're the parents and we need to decide how much is too much. Not just for him but for the rest of us. Whether it's being unable to leave town because of his schedule or it's dragging the girls all over to his games, the rest of us are affected. As of right now, it hasn't become a problem. But I'm sure there are some family discussions about this in our near future.

Just call her Martha Stewart

We're on a roll with the decorating. Yesterday, we stopped in at Home Depot and Charlotte picked out paint and carpet for one room of her dollhouse. She's decided to decorate the girls' bedroom first.

She's chosen "sorbet" (don't call it pink or you won't hear the end of it) and some mauve carpet. This morning, she learned the ins and outs of painting, including prepping, taping, how to use a roller, and how to clean up. She did a really great job painting.

They also laid some carpet in it but didn't glue it down. Charlotte decided to keep it loose so that she could change it later if she wanted. Next up is choosing some fabric so she and I can make curtains for the windows. (That's Laura in the bed under the covers. She's sick and needs to rest.)

And just because she's cute:

Making the old new again

Right before Lucy was born, I went through a crazy nesting period (as most pregnant women do. I'm not very original.) and I insisted that our dining room chairs needed new fabric. My mother, who was kind enough to stay with us and be on call to watch the older kidlets during labor, taught us how to re-upholster. They turned out very nice.

Our kitchen has a bar, something Mike has always considered a requirement for our home. However, the stools that came with the house were badly in need of repair. They were way too tall for the counter so the first step was to cut them down and add some felt pads to prevent scratches on the floor. Next, we had to repair the pleather tops. They were already in rough shape but in the two years since we've been here, they've been ruined. They were ripped and cracked. The kids fought over who had to use the "scratchy" stool until they were all ripped and "scratchy." Then they found something else to fight about because that's what they're good at.

So Mike and I acted like grownups and went to the fabric store and bought actual upholstery fabric. Today, he re-upholstered them and they look great. We used a brown suede fabric. Except one has a cushion that is more worn out than the others. And so begins the ongoing argument about who has to use the "flat" stool.

Welcome to BurchTown!

The kids like to set up their own town in our living room. They raise up some blankets and bring toys and books inside. They eat their lunch in there and set up their own rules. They've even made Burch money. They've named it BurchTown. Because, you know, they're very imaginative....or something.

Since we've moved away from our families (Mike having been gone for over 11 years now, believe it or not), we have so much that we want to share. The kids do something funny or cute or even completely annoying and I think, "I should tell my mom/Debra/G.G/Poppa/etc. about that." Then....well, I forget.

So here's my solution. My own BurchTown. This way, I can add whatever I like, whenever I remember, and I won't feel like I'm annoying everybody with updates and photos that clog your email inbox. I always feel so presumptious sending out emails to everyone. As though I'm saying, "I KNOW you want to see my photos and hear all about how wonderful we are." This way, you can come and check up on us if you want....or not. And I can talk about us all *I* want. :P